Introduction
The ethical and quality business operations paradigm entails one’s proficiency, commitment, and integrity. Over the course of studying Baldrige’s Core Values of Business, I have realized that the notion of business quality is not limited to one’s efficiency or expertise in the field. Although crucial, these aspects are only contributions to a bigger picture of conducting ethical and meaningful business practices. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, 2021), the Baldrige Criteria “are the foundation for integrating key performance and operational requirements within a results-oriented framework that creates a basis for action, feedback, and ongoing success” (para. 1). Hence, the compilation of Baldrige Core Values of Business has helped me reconsider the perception of business operations in a way that balances efficiency, learning, a people-centered approach, a long-term perspective, and ethical compliance.
Reflection
The framework of values introduced by the Baldrige Criteria presents an exhaustive number of values. Essentially, the framework includes visionary leadership, customer-centered excellence, organizational and personal learning, valuing workforce members and partners, agility, focus on the future, management by fact, managing for innovation, societal responsibility, focus on results and creating value, and systems perspective (NIST, 2021). At the beginning of the learning process, I was overwhelmed by the diversity of values that exist to ensure a successful business model. The anxiety stemmed from the fact that as a future business executive, I could not imagine myself to be a person responsible for simultaneous commitment to the values. However, I have realized in the course of learning that such an extensive model is closely interrelated, and compliance with one of the gold standards can allow a company to thrive in other areas.
A prime example of such an interrelation is one of the core principles of a Systems Perspective. This concept implies that an organization should be treated as an interdependent mechanism instead of a number of separate spheres of expertise. The experience opportunities provided over the course helped me acknowledge the importance of teamwork and a collective mindset as one of the springboards to success and efficiency. Hence, instead of complicating collectiveness and unity, Core Values explicitly contribute to their enhancement. For instance, when it comes to visionary leadership, the principle implies that in order to pursue success, business executives need to develop a tangible and comprehensive vision for the company that would eventually lead the way toward required skills, practices, innovation, and ethical framework required to grow in efficiency and quality. As a result, one of the Core Values serves as a foundation for building other equally important value systems, including ethics, delivering results, and focusing on the values and results delivered by the company.
Throughout the program, I have spent a substantial amount of time analyzing the existing business models of major corporations in order to outline the potential solutions to their organizational obstacles. In most cases, the root of the issue addressed the imbalance between the company’s mission and its actual compliance and transparency. Such a discrepancy takes place because many employees, although familiar with the company’s values, are not driven by them.
By doing what is expected of them, many employees focus on the efficiency indicators that are more measurable, including mostly financial factors. Contrary to this tendency, scholarly findings reveal that employees aware of the company’s vision and value system are prone to more creative performance in the workplace and a better emotional attachment to their place of employment (Slåtten et al., 2021). Another study that focuses directly on the Baldrige Excellence Framework implementation in health care demonstrates that “hospitals successfully achieving the Baldrige Framework have documented high performance on critical measures of cost, quality, patient satisfaction, and worker satisfaction” (Toussaint et al., 2020, p. 1). Hence, the program helped me reevaluate the business priorities I would pursue as an entrepreneur in order to make my company compatible with the demanding expectations of the modern socially responsible community.
Prior to starting this course, I was familiar with the majority of Core Values, yet I did not imagine how a business could secure commitment to these principles. At the end of the program, however, I realized that the initial stages of business planning, which are frequently overlooked, are of critical importance to the company’s growth prospects. As for me, the key takeaway of the Excellence Framework is that when a business plan fails to provide a clear vision and mission statement that later designs the ethical and compliance frameworks, the company loses the point of navigation they can go back to in case a chosen business model does not yield results. Another critical mistake companies make at the preliminary planning stages is the disregard for their role in society. Perceiving themselves solely as business players, businesses lose the opportunity to become an integral part of the social system that contributes to the community in other ways aside from a product-for-profit exchange. Baldrige’s Core Values framework provides insights into the pattern of socially and ethically conscious venture that helps companies develop a long-term strategy.
Hence, considering the relevance of the Baldrige Framework, I am certain that this model will remain the foundation for my future business planning because it highlights the business ethical and societal values I want to pursue as a leader. I believe that Baldrige’s Core Values emphasize the fact that a business can never exist solely on the eagerness for profitability. Although sometimes successful in the short term, profitability models fail to create a future vision for innovation and internal growth. On the other hand, companies that have an extensive system of values, corporate responsibility, and focus on both employees and customers, bring more successful results and become more reputable. For this reason, the alignment to the Core Values is the process I want to make essential in my future career, as it would allow me to connect with my business on a more intimate and result-oriented level.
Conclusion
In the modern environment of competition, corporate social responsibility, and the business sector’s commitment to engage with the community, no company can exist without an exhaustive value and strategic vision model. As a part of the business course, we have examined the Baldrige Excellence Framework as a tool for creating an ethically responsible and successful business. Although challenging business owners to commit to their business on many levels beyond generating profit, this model is an invaluable tool for creating a long-term agile business strategy. Hence, after analyzing the content of the Baldrige Excellence Framework, I have reached a conclusion that I would ensure to use this model in the future because it helped me reconsider the meaning of business in a more socially oriented manner.
References
National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2021). Baldrige Performance Excellence Program: Core values and concepts. Web.
Slåtten, T., Mutonyi, B. R., & Lien, G. (2021). Does organizational vision really matter? An empirical examination of factors related to organizational vision integration among hospital employees. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1), 1-17.
Toussaint, J. S., Griffith, J. R., & Shortell, S. M. (2020). Lean, Shingo, and the Baldrige Framework: A comprehensive method to achieve a continuous-improvement management system. NEJM Catalyst, 1(3). Web.